This invention relates to telephone answering equipment and more particularly to such equipment which is especially suited for use by radio broadcast stations and the like.
Interface units are available to interface between incoming and outgoing telephone lines and various equipment in a broadcast studio such as a playback deck, or a frequency extender or the like. For example, such interfaces are used for commonly offered services such as weather information lines, sports information lines and the like and in the running of radio contests. In these instances, each telephone line is connected through an interface to a playback deck which contains a prerecorded message for the caller. Such interfaces are also used in remote audio feed situations where the telephone conversation is sent over telephone lines to the studio.
Presently used interface units for these various purposes could be improved. For example, many of these interface units need auxiliary power supplies which requires additional space and add additional weight to the system. Moreover, currently interface units are relatively limited in function and inflexible in use. Separate units of differing types may be needed to perform various of the different functions listed above. In addition, a separate playback deck is generally required for each telephone line using the presently available interfaces. In the information line application, the presently available systems sometimes connect the caller to the prerecorded message in the middle of the message and then attempt to cut off the caller after a predetermined amount of time. However, on occasion the caller is cut off before the entire message is heard. Present interface units are also relatively bulky in general or must be mounted near their power supplies or other equipment such as a frequency extender, which require that they be hidden in a cabinet or the like where their various indicators such as an on-line indicator cannot be seen.